OFFSTAGE: Eric Church Fans Create a Scene in Buffalo, N.Y.

(CMT Offstage keeps a 24/7 watch on everything that’s happening with country music artists behind the scenes and
out of the spotlight.)

How soon we forget about concert tragedies. Just months after seven people died when Sugarland’s stage at the Indiana State Fair stage was blown over when high winds
hit the grandstand area, country music fans were angry that an Eric Church
show was canceled on Friday (June 1) for nearly the same exact reason. It was at the WYRK Taste of Country concert, and according to the Buffalo News, concertgoers
were so furious, they were throwing chairs, bottles and cans onto the stage after the announcement was made.

The sponsoring
radio station, WYRK, issued
a very thorough explanation of all that went into the decision. “After careful consideration, and in light of what we
saw as a significant safety threat to our audience, we moved as fast as we practically could to assess the risks of the situation
— the result of which was that show producers, representatives of Eric Church and the venue jointly made the decision to
suspend the show just before 11 p.m.,” the website says. And even Church issued a statement that he was bummed, too, and that,
“I owe the city of Buffalo one, and I intend to make good on that.”

I understand being hugely disappointed. I once
went all the way down to Louisiana to see a country concert. I waited all day in what felt like 150-degree heat. The singer
came out and did two songs, then he got sick. It happens. You live. You learn. And you get over it. What would you have done
in Buffalo? Would you have been relieved that the proper safety measures were being taken? Or pissed off that the show would
not go on?